GM Optimistic Over New NAFTA Agreement, No Plans To Shift Silverado Production From Mexico

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General Motors CEO Mary Barra is confident a new North American Free Trade Agreement will be implemented and said there are currently no plans to move Chevrolet Silverado production wholly out of Mexico, Reuters reported last Saturday.

GM builds the Silverado half-ton crew cab in Mexico, which has quickly become one of the most popular truck configurations. GM will reportedly work to address crew-cab demand with the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado. Barra did not directly answer questions over the Silverado’s future production or if the automaker will move production wholly to the United States.

Barra and GM North America President Alan Batey said NAFTA supports U.S. jobs and manufacturing.

“The truck we build in Mexico, the engines come from the U.S. Everything is interlinked,” Batey said.

GM also said 80 percent of the full-size trucks sold in the U.S. are built in America. Mark Reuss, GM product chief, also did not clarify the automaker’s future truck production strategy and said, “I’m not sure that we would tell anybody that. I don’t think we’d be talking about our footprint in the future.”

The questions come as NAFTA negotiations stall and Ram announced it will move production from Mexico to Michigan for its next-generation heavy-duty trucks.

I have driven GM vehicles exclusively since I bought my first car in 1964, My 2015 Silverado crew cab was built in Flint. I will switch to another manufacturer next time, if necessary. I will not buy a vehicle made in Mexico. We need these jobs badly!

I agree completely. This is not only GM’s #1 profit maker, it’s most likely the #1 selling Chevrolet model. Everyone I know who owns a truck that’s their personal vehicle, owns a crew cab. You’d think that Chevrolet’s #1 seller would be Made in USA. I mean, it’s Chevy for goodness sake. The Heartbeat of America. Or at least it was….

I still contend that all Chevrolet vehicles that are trucks or rwd based cars (typically with V8’s) should always be built here at home. I’ll add to that anything with a heritage nameplate such as Malibu, Impala or Chevelle if ever resurrected.. Even a Bel Air. A Spark, or Sonic or even a low volume model Cruze or Trax sure, I can see Mexico as the assembly home. But the vehicles from Chevrolet USA’s past, need to stay in America. They’re part of America’s identity and heritage IMHO.

Canada isn’t quite as optimistic about NAFTA . Don’t listen to what Trump says in tweets , watch instead what he does .
The Trade agreement needs to be renegotiated but not scrapped .
GM is making a boat load of money producing trucks in Mexico , as well as their SUV’s . The whole idea of Nafta was to uplift Mexico’s middle class so they would buy American products or products being built in their country by American companies .
But it just has enough loopholes that we get the shaft . Years ago it was looked down upon buying a vehicle from Mexico but that doesn’t seem to matter as much as it used to . Now it’s China , and in a few years we won’t look at it as such a big deal as we do at present .
And when China starts selling their vehicles in this country will people buy them . Probably . Because it is going to happen sooner than people think .

President Trump and America is winning the NAFTA game, don’t fool yourself…

– Getting renegotiated…Trump already winning there since all the naysayers said it would never happen.

– Pres. Trump has said it must be fair to Americans (not just suck the lifeblood out of manufacturing jobs to low-pay countries that do not trade fairly)…Or it is TERMINATED. He is not kidding.

– Even if NAFTA survives, it will end up benefiting the U.S. much more, and Canada and Mexico industries will drop sharply. Just look at all the manufacturing coming back to the U.S. under Trump and U.S. stock market at all-time record highs. They know the truth.

Of course Sean is still hurting from voiting for the candidate who was suffered a humiliating loss to President Trump, so we can’t expect full and fair analysis in his articles.

I believe Canada is going to throw Mexico under the bus and sign a 2 way deal with the US. Before NAFTA there was the FTA between Canada and the US and before that was the Auto Pact. There have been free trade Agreements between the US and Canada dating back to 1855.

There is nothing on the road today, that was built in the past decade, that was not by an American name plate, that is necessarily of better quality than what American manufacturers produce. Anybody who feels that they need to buy a foreign brand in order to get solid quality is deluded. America can, and does, build the same or better, quality to all other manufacturers. Moreover, if America is ever in need of national security assistance, guess how many Asian and/or other nations will come to its assistance? Those who say that Toyota or Honda or VW or any other brand with an American plant are hiring American workers and therefore are good for our economy forget that all the profits go to the motherland of the manufacturer. What stays in America is merely a token; a trinket. That is why Japan requires (or, at least did require) all companies manufacturing in Japan to be at least 51 percent Japanese owned. I prefer to support a company that is supporting the country that will be responsible for protecting me, should the need arise.

With all of that said, however, anybody who thinks that American companies producing product solely in America and thereby creating enormous numbers of jobs in America for Americans is very sadly delusional. Right now, this very day, American companies are producing more product in America than they have ever produced in the industrial history of America. Even if GM brings ALL of its production back to America it is unlikely that manpower will increase measurably, and the assembly line will NEVER teem with laborers like it did in the Golden Age of automobile production. Everything is automated.

The only thing that will happen if GM is forced to manufacture entirely in America is that more Americans will lose their jobs. It is called economy of scale. Right now, GM can afford to keep its American personnel employed because the savings in wages and other costs in Mexico and elsewhere balance the cost of American counterparts. If the auto maker suddenly loses those savings areas it will be forced to automate more of their American plants. It is that simple.

The only way that you will change that is if all the other manufacturing areas come up to the same cost as America, or if American labor in some way becomes a bigger advantage than foreign labor. Only then will we see those jobs come back. But even if all the production for some reason all comes back, automation will still eliminate the jobs.

So, then, if NAFTA is renegotiated to get the “best deal for American workers” (i.e., companies are forced, coerced, encouraged, taxed, or in some other way compelled to produce more in America), you can expect more American workers to lose their jobs. Is that really what you want? By forcing a “better” deal for American workers you are, in effect, going to Lowe’s and buying the axe (and having it ultra-sharpened), to give to GM and other manufacturers so that they can slice your job and neck more cleanly (i.e., giving you less benefits to go with your severance package).

Now, go ahead and disagree with me. But just before you do that, go ask your multi-national corporate employer how much of their tax savings from the GOP’s new tax plan is actually going to end up in your bank account. If they are honest with you, they will tell you, like they told the Washington Post (or whoever it was that ran the story), NONE. It is all going to go to their shareholders.

Next week we will explain to you why you cannot live without the immigrants you want to get rid of. Please stay tuned.